Tribus (Latin for Three) was a three-man team of villains comprised of Gruntijackal, Edward Richtofen and Xarcoh. Together, the three sought to achieve ultimate power through several different methods for themselves, namely in the acquisition of interdimensional powers.

Their actions however would attract the ire of the heroes of Earth-31218, Novus, who battled Tribus and their undead forces for several years before finally ending their plans during Tribus' attempt to fulfill the prophecy of the Emperor of Destiny.

Background

Freeing Gruntijackal

The idea of Tribus began when Edward Richtofen, at the time merely a soul trapped between universes following the collapse of the Cursed Realm, was influenced by Gruntijackal's power, having resonated a connection with him due to Richtofen's experiements with the MPD in his home universe. Under his command, Gruntijackal had Richtofen prepare the means to allow Gruntijackal to escape the Fractured Realm, having been sealed within the realm following the Day of the Departed festival in Earth-61017.

Once Richtofen had been freed from his state of limbo by Gruntijackal, he soon began his quest to acquire all of the necessary items for his plans. After securing the Yin Blade and Soul Jar from Willard Wyler, Richtofen used the Yin Blade to cross back into his home universe, where he experimented with the Yin Blade's power on the countless souls trapped within the Soul Jar, creating his own personal zombie army in the process. During this, Richtofen would discover the soul of Xarcoh within the jar, having fled into it after his physical form was destroyed before he could reach Limbo.

Restoring Xarcoh with a physical form using the Yin Blade, Richtofen forged an alliance with him, and together the two would work together to carry out the rest of Richtofen's plans, successfully procuring the Omega Key and fresh souls for the Soul Jar through manipulating Novus, the newly-assembled team of survivors that would oppose them. With everything that they needed, the two villains teleported to Griffin Station, a former Group 935 base on the Moon, where they jumpstarted their own Green Eclipse using Element 115 samples in the base to enhance the Yin Blade's power, creating a rift to the Fractured Realm.^[1]

Accessing the Aether

With Gruntijackal freed from the Fractured Realm, all of Tribus' members would unite for the first time. Together, Tribus ventured to the Chamber of Repose, a secret room within Griffin Station that held the MPD, where Gruntijackal was placed into the Soul Jar and extracted into the Omega Key. Before Novus could stop them from finishing their efforts, Richtofen plugged the Omega Key into the MPD's interface once the device was charged with the souls of the Soul Jar, allowing Gruntijackal to enter the device and possess the dormant body of Samantha Maxis cryogenically frozen within it.

Armed with the power of the Aether through Gruntijackal's newly-revitalized connection, Tribus engaged Novus in a final battle. However, Novus were able to halt Tribus' efforts after destroying the four soul canisters fueling the MPD and detaching the device from its support anchors, allowing the device to be sucked into the vacuum of space once Novus opened the airlock overhead. With Gruntijackal trapped inside the MPD and unable to access the Aether, Richtofen and Xarcoh attempted to flee and reorganize, though the two villains would be trapped within the Soul Jar themselves and thrown into the void of space alongside the MPD.^[1]

Prophecy of the Emperor of Destiny

To be added^[2]

References

Trivia

• Tribus' name is a parellel to Novus'.